Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon says Donald Trump should stand "on the right side of history" by reconsidering the decision to pull his country out of the Paris climate change accord, a decision Ban called "misguided" and responding to a "short-term vision."
The US president's decision has larger political consequences beyond the impact on global greenhouse gas emissions, Ban told The Associated Press in Madrid.
He said the choice leaves a leadership vacuum in international diplomacy.
For almost a decade, Ban spearheaded negotiations that led to the pledge of keeping global temperatures from raising another degree Celsius by 2100. Nearly 200 countries signed the agreement in December 2015.
Ban today joined more than 50 former world leaders in a statement criticizing Trump administration's decision.
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